We’ll Do It LIVE! — Howie Mandel

Mandel argues that show business merely projects human behaviors and values on a larger scale, rather than being inherently different from other industries. He finds it amusing that outsiders grant 'gravitas' to those who 'pretend to be something.'

Show business is just it's a microcosm of humanity. I find it really funny that people in that not the people in show business, but the people outside of show business have this gravitas respect for somebody who pretended to be something, you know, it's just pretending. It's not that big a deal to pretend.

Mandel observes that Canada, despite having a tenth of the US population, produces a disproportionately high number of internationally recognized talents in music, film, and comedy. He speculates there must be 'something in our water.'

per capita. We probably have the highest rate of talent. And whether that is even in music, you know, from Selen Deion to Drake to, you know, so many others to uh film directors Norman Jison and and uh writers and uh and comedians and just producers like Lauren Michaels for such a, you know, we have a tenth the population of all of America.

Mandel contrasts the 'safe, wonderful, giving environment' of Canada with the 'go get it' and 'every man for themself' attitude he found in America, which he credits for his career success.

Canada is a beautiful place to live and a beautiful um safe um wonderful giving environment and here it is like uh it feels like and there's nothing wrong with this and that's what I liked about it and this is what I got my career about but it is every man for themsel you know and it's that go get it attitude and you can have a dream and make that dream come true.

Despite his children growing up with more privilege than he did, Mandel and his wife instilled the importance of hard work and respect. His daughter taught in underserved areas, his son built a successful podcast production company, and his other daughter became a physiotherapist, all earning their own livings.

I've tried to instill into my kids uh the importance and the gratitude of hard work and respect and they've all done that you know I told you the daughter that you met spent every day driving out to you know Krenshaw and Watts and East LA which are really kind of under served areas... my son who actually runs my company and not because I gave him a job. It's not nepotism. It's more nepatism that he hired me. He does one I'm one of maybe 30 different podcasts that he produces... My other daughter... is a physiootherapist.

Mandel and O'Reilly discuss how true, unscripted conversations, like those sometimes found with David Letterman or their own podcast, are rare and valuable in an industry dominated by pre-interviews, publicist control, and promotional plugs.

99.9% of the people that you book on a late night talk show are there to promote whatever it is they're going to promote... a producer has asked you for a really funny interesting story and they want to know what the the outline is so that the you know what is your punch out like what's the end of that story so the uh host knows that that is what the story you're going to tell... The publicist would I know for a fact I did a talk show in the 90s... said, 'You cannot mention Brad Pitt. You can't me and if you do, you're never going to book another one of my clients.'

Mandel emphasizes that continuous curiosity about evolving culture, especially new digital platforms and trends, is crucial for staying relevant. He realized this after encountering a YouTube video with 100 million views that he didn't 'get,' prompting him to immerse himself in online culture.

what drives me is curiosity. You know, curiosity is our fuel when we're very young... At about 40 years old, that gets tiring because life is about research... I realized culture moves on. And what is this culture? How do I engage these people? How do I just understand them? I don't have to entertain you. I just want to understand why you think this is funny. And from that moment on, I live and I still go see a therapist for this. I live online. I'm aware of every platform.

Mandel advocates for therapy as a tool for coping with life's challenges (success, failure, relationships) and believes it should be destigmatized and integrated into life, much like routine dental care.

Gives me and helps me cope. You know, everything in life is coping... you don't have all the tools. And I just think that it should be therapy should be part of our curriculum without a stigma... we need to take care of our mental health the way we take care of our dental health.